Librarian Nicole Ruscitto takes aim at flipping pivotal South Hills state senate seat

One of Southwestern Pennsylvania’s most crucial state senate districts has a challenger, as school librarian and local basketball coach Nicole Ruscitto announced her candidacy Tuesday.

Ruscitto, a Jefferson Hills Democrat who works in the South Park School District, is challenging Republican incumbent Sen. Devlin Robinson of Bridgeville for the 37th District seat.

The suburban district includes Allegheny County communities stretching from the Mon Valley through southern and western parts of the county and into the North Hills.

The district has the closest ratio of Republicans to Democrats of any in the Pittsburgh region and could prove pivotal for which party controls the state Senate.

Democrats hope to gain a majority in the upper chamber but need to flip three districts to do so, and District 37 is in their sights. They haven’t held a majority in the state Senate since the 1992-93 session.

Ruscitto, 52, who previously served as a Jefferson Hills councilwoman, said increasing education funding would be a top priority.

“Our schools aren’t funded fairly or at the levels they should be,” said Ruscitto. “Current and future generations of Allegheny County are failed by the status quo and it’s time for a change.”

She said protecting women’s health care, addressing gun violence and helping families deal with rising costs would also be priorities if elected.

Ruscitto described the district as moderate but said that Robinson has attracted too much controversy and is too conservative for the suburban swing seat. She cited how Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, earned 59% of the district’s vote in 2022, despite the senate seat being held by a Republican.

The district has swung between parties over the years. Before changing composition slightly after redistricting in 2022, the seat was held by Democrat Matt Smith from 2013-2015, then Republican Guy Reschenthaler took over for four years. Democrat Pam Iovino held District 37 from 2019-2020 before Robinson won the seat from Iovino.

Robinson’s campaign spokesman, Dennis Roddy, said the incumbent has worked with Democratic governors to bring millions into the district and has several bills he has sponsored have been passed and enacted. Roddy said Ruscitto is too liberal for her home borough of Jefferson Hills, where she lost reelection to council last year.

“If that’s too conservative for Ruscitto, it helps to explain why voters in Jefferson Hills rejected her two months ago,” Roddy said.